Jakhar faces tough contest
From Shubhabrata Bhattacharya
Tribune News Service

SIKAR(Rajasthan) Sept 2 — Mr Bal Ram Jakhar, who, like Mr Buta Singh, migrated to Rajasthan for electoral politics in 1984 and won the last Lok Sabha election from neighbouring Bikaner with the highest victory margin in this state, is locked in a tough triangular contest with Mr Subhash Mehriya of BJP, who won this seat last time and Mr Amra Ram of the CPM, a sitting MLA from Dodh, one of the assembly segments of Sikar, who polled 1.96 lakh votes while finishing third behind the Congress in 1998.Mr Jakhar is used to big margin wins.

He won Sikar by 1.8 lakh votes in 1984 and again by 1.11 lakh in 1991 (he lost to Mr Devi Lal in 1989 in the anti-Bofors wave). In 1998, his margin at Bikaner was 1.78 lakh. This time, however, he is facing rough weather, though he seems to have the edge. To begin with, unlike Mr Buta Singh at Jalore, Mr Jakhar is facing the charge of being an “outsider”.

The charade is spearheaded by the local district Congress chief, Mr Narain Singh, MLA from Data Ramgarh, who incidentally was among those who persuaded Mr Jakhar to choose Sikar, the heartland of Rajasthan’s Jat politics, in 1984. Mr Narain Singh had threatened to resign this year while Mr Jakhar was being nominated.

He did not accompany Mr Jakhar to the collectorate when papers were filed —rather unusual for the DCC president.Mr Jakhar had shifted to Bikaner in 1998 after he was denied ticket in 1996 due to the hawala charge (he has won in courts now), Dr Hari Ram was nominated by the Congress and he won. In 1998 Dr Hari Ram was renominated from Sikar.

He lost to Mr Mehriya of the BJP. He was keen to fight this time as well. The DCC chief backed him. Now Dr Hari Ram is active in the Jat Mahasabha and the reservation movement, which has resolved to “defeat the Congress”. There are three lakh Jats among Sikar’s 12.9 lakh voters.

Thus, reservation and Kargil (16 jawans from the district were killed in the conflict) are two upfront issues. All three major contestants are Jats. Thus Mr Jakhar has to rely more on the “Congress vote” than his caste appeal.

He had used his position as Union Agriculture Minister to introduce sprinkler irrigation which has benefited farmers of this desert area. But when emotions run high, past achievements take a back seat. Also, unlike Mr Buta Singh, Mr Jakhar has not represented Sikar without a break. And this makes the difference.

Mr Jakhar is likely to get the support of Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and even Rajput voters (around 1 lakh) this time because of Mr Ashok Gehlot, an OBC, being the Chief Minister and the Rajputs being annoyed with the BJP for its stand supporting reservation for the Jats.

In view of this factor, the Congress has made Mr Deependra Shekhawat, a confidant of the Chief Minister and a Cabinet member who represents the Ringus segment in the Vidhan Sabha, in charge of Mr Jakhar’s campaign.

Mr Shekhawat, a Rajput, is touring the constituency extensively. A number of Congress workers from Haryana and Punjab are canvassing for Mr Jakhar. Mr Jakhar exudes confidence. He speaks in the local dialect and intersperses his speeches with anecdotes and poetry.

He makes the audience laugh at Mr Vajpayee. He ridicules BJP leaders for their attacks on Mrs Sonia Gandhi. He appeals to the Kargil sentiment by referring his trip to the conflict zone along with Mr Kamal Nath and Mr Ahmed Patel as the head of a Congress delegation. He accuses the government of failure to check infiltration which led to the death of jawans.

Fissures within the district Congress and imminent split in the Jat vote is likely to take the shine off Mr Jakhar’s armour who, continues his campaign amidst the sand dunes of Sikar.